The Youth Action Panel (YAP) are a diverse group of 14-22 year-olds living along the River Thames who have an interest in nature and tackling climate change. The YAP was formed in September 2022 as part of the Greener Thames Project. Members of the panel volunteer their time for the RSPB while striving to learn about the environment and finding new ways to inspire other young people to take action for nature. Here you…

Little Terns are one of the most threatened seabirds in the UK and the colony on Chesil Beach in Dorset is the last in South West England. The Chesil Beach Little Tern Recovery Project relies on a team of volunteers each year and are now appeali...

Acting Director of RSPB England, Nick Bruce-White, describes the need for joined-up thinking across all UK Government Departments to help save nature....

Tomorrow sees the publication of the UK Government’s latest plan to save nature. It’s called the Environment Improvement Plan (EIP) and it updates the 25 Year Plan published in 2018. It is a pivotal moment. This is when the promises of the original 25 year…

A career in the NHS and a love of the outdoors led to a determination to connect more people with nature. As RSPB Nature Prescriptions launch in England for the first time this week, Sarah Walker, nature and wellbeing project manager, talks about the importance of nature for our health, and how this new project could provide a way for more health professionals to improve our health and wellbeing. 

Birdsong and cherry tree…

RSPB Senior Policy Officer Alice Groom writes about an exciting new consensus that is emerging around food, farming and nature ... 

A group of farmers and environmental organisations met in the margins of the 2023 Oxford farming conferences to forge consensus on a way forward for farming, recognising the huge pressures that many farming sectors are currently experiencing. This consensus rests on a shared understanding that…

Never far from our thoughts during the festive season, Turtle Doves actually spend the winter far away from our shores in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, this is the time when farmers on Ripple Farm in Kent are already planning for their spring return.

The sound of “purring” Turtle Doves could be lost from Betteshanger Country Park if two planning applications submitted for this area go ahead. These developments could see a 120 bed hotel and spa along with a large surfing lagoon called The SeaHive take over the landscape in this Kent country park near Deal, causing a huge loss of homes for wildlife. Here's how you can help.

Main image: Bird’s-eye view of Swindale Valley following the river restoration – putting the bends back into the river and restoring the function of the natural floodplain.  Image Credit: Lee Schofield.

The RSPB at Haweswater is incredibly proud to be part of an ambitious programme to restore and improve rivers in the Lake District, which has beaten immense competition from across Europe to win the prestigi…

RSPB Senior Policy Officer Carl Bunnage brings us up to date with the new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and what we need to see it do for nature ... 

Over the coming days the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will resume its passage through Parliament. This will shape the future of the planning system in England, a system that has profound impacts upon nature. 

The Bill was paused in the face of opposition from backbench…

A very special blog today from Claire Mucklow who over two decades worked tirelessly to help secure the future of the Cornish Chough. Claire was the RSPB’s Chough Project Officer and here she shares her personal memories of chough nest night sh...

The RSPB understands the need for projects which enable the connection of renewable energy into our national grid to help tackle the climate emergency. However, we are seriously concerned at the lack of strategic planning of energy projects by National Grid along the Suffolk coast, and in particular the lack of prioritisation of options which minimise impacts on nature and wildlife.  

Please read to the end to see how you…

Today’s blog is written by Daniel Pullan, our Senior Conservation Officer for Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, on the opportunities for nature in the proposed Fens Reservoir.  

Anglian Water are proposing a new public water supply reservoir in the Fens. The RSPB wants your support to make sure that this once in a generation opportunity protects and enhances the area’s wonderful wetlands for people…

Today’s blog - written by Jess Chappell, England Senior Policy Officer – introduces a brand new RSPB report and explains how nature risks losing out in the face of major regulatory reform ...

Nature needs a champion. With so many of our most precious species now on the brink of extinction from Great Britain, more than ever we need to ensure that ministers are being scrutinised and held to account for the actions…

Jeff Kew leads the RSPB’s East Coast Wetlands programme which aims to bring broader support for the benefits and value of our world class network of east coast wetlands. Here Jeff discusses the importance of the east coast and our recent applic...

Suffolk's Hintlesham Woods is under threat. A proposal to run overhead cables from electricity pylons through the ancient woodlands would mean permanent damage to the woods and the wildlife that calls it home.

Kate Jennings, RSPB Head of Site Conservation and Species Policy, has worked for RSPB for over 13 years. Kate fell in love with nature as a child and joined the RSPB’s Young Ornithologists Club when she was just seven years old. She’s bee...

The RSPB is deeply concerned about today’s proposals for investment zones and “liberalised planning rules” in places as widespread as Norfolk, West of England, West Midlands and Tees Valley. Alongside the potential powers in the new Retained EU Law Bill, Government has effectively launched a full-on attack on the laws that protect nature.  

Whatever people’s views on Europe, laws such as the habitats…

Last month, Defra announced the ban of all sales of peat to amateur gardeners in England by 2024. This marks a particularly significant moment in our campaigning history as the RSPB has been campaigning on this issue since 1990 –  more than 30 years.

Defra’s public consultation on ending the retail sale of horticultural peat received more than 5,000 responses with over 95% in favour of government taking action…

Last week saw the release of Natural England’s Hen Harrier Breeding Figures, with 34 successful nests and 119 chicks, 2022 has proved to be a record year for this iconic bird. That success was reflected in the Forest of Bowland, where RSPB staff and volunteers recorded 14 nesting attempts of 13 breeding females (including one replacement clutch) on the United Utilities Bowland Estate. 11 nests were successful and…

In today’s blog, RSPB England Campaigner Pooja Kishinani reflects on the need for the UK Government to deliver urban green spaces that are beneficial for people and nature. 

The Climate Change Committee’s recent report outlines recommendations to the UK Government to address overheating risks, which includes creating an urban greenspace target. It is vital that Government focuses on integrated solutions to deliver…

With temperatures pushing the mercury to previously unthinkable heights, moorland fires are once again in the news. With climate change giving rise to increasingly frequent extremes it’s vital to consider ways in which these iconic landscapes can be made more resilient to fire.

RSPB East Midlands Area Manager Martin Randall looks at Dove Stone in the Peak District - how the RSPB site team deal with fires and how…

RSPB Senior Policy Officer, Carl Bunnage, reflects on the Government’s new Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, and whether it will really do what it says on the tin.  

Prior to Boris Johnson’s resignation, the UK Government published its long-anticipated reforms to the planning system in England in the form of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. With the race for the leadership of the Conservative party, and…

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

These words of American scientist Margaret Mead are especially true when it comes to restoring our natural world. It takes people to save a species, restore a damaged habitat and inspire a new generation to take better care of our precious and fragile environment.

Every year…

‘Low-carbon’: what does it really mean? Does it make you feel empowered to make lifestyle changes for nature, or under pressure?  Writer and science communicator Sophie Pavelle gives us a glimpse into her low-carbon journey around Britain in search of ten animals and habitats threatened by climate change in the 21st century for her debut book ‘Forget Me Not’.

Sophie Pavelle is a writer and science…

Concern is mounting for seabirds across the UK and around the world, as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) continues to take a devastating toll on wildlife. Last week, the RSPB’s chief executive, Beccy Speight, visited Coquet Island in Northumberland, to see, first-hand, the effects it is having there. 

In my role I’m incredibly fortunate to visit some of the UK’s most breath-taking places – and RSPB reserves…